Personal Narrative: Working With The Homeless Community

In the past I had volunteered at the Salvation Army so this was not my first experience in working with the homeless population. For that reason, I was able to tune into my own life experiences before my shift. I knew beforehand that I would not have the answer for everything, especially when it came to the referral aspect because I’m not fully aware of the resources we have nor the requirements for them. Which is where Liz would come in, I told myself if I ever had question I’d ask rather than give the wrong one. I also knew that I would have the ability to emphasize and engage when hearing their stories. They too are people just like everyone else and just because they might live on the streets or smell a little they shouldn’t be treated

How was I going to ask someone if they are abusing any chronic substances? What would my reply be? The endless scenarios I made in my head of how things would go were endless, like the interviewee yelling at me for asking something to personal or them overwhelming me with something to personal. That morning to say being there was a relief would be an understatement, another student and I from class were the only ones who showed up aside from Liz. One look at his face and I could tell he was just as nervous as I was, which made me not so nervous anymore. Liz was great in asking us if we had any questions or if we were worried about something, she defiantly helped in making me feel more confident when it was time to interview. Not only where we set up with donuts and coffee but we also had someone set up next to us from Dallas, TX who was testing them for AIDS at no

For example, the first person I got to interview told me how he had been in the foster system for as long as he could remember and he was in it up until he aged out. It really made me think of how not everyone got the happy ending like those kids who got adopted on Adoption Day. It also made me realize the flaws, possibly never had the support of other and that could possibly explain why he’s been in the streets for so long. The second person I interviewed was an older man who confided in me about how he abused chronic substances. I had no idea how to respond to him, or if it would be polite to ask him what types of drugs he was into. But by that time, Liz and I had a system where I would get through the survey with the client then have them talk to her, where she would referral them with resources. I think one of the most awkward situations for me when interviewing people was when I’d get to the part where I asked them if they had any mental health issues or disabilities. The reason is, I had no idea how to spell half the words they were saying and to be honest it made me feel kind of dumb. There was once where Liz had to ask me what I wrote because it probably looked like chicken scratch or something, my face turned red from